"Fast car" is kind of a continuation of Bruce Springsteen's "Born to Run." It has all the clawing your way to a better life, but in this case the protagonist never makes it with her love; in fact she is dragged back down by him.
There is still an amazing amount of hope and will in the lyrics; and the lyrics themselve rank and easy five. If only music was stronger it would be one of those great radio songs that you hear once a week 20 years after it was released. The imagery is almost tear-jerking ("City lights lay out before us", "Speeds so fast felt like I was drunk"), and the idea of starting from nothing and just driving and working and denigrating yourself for a chance at being just above poverty, then losing in the end is just painful and inspiring at the same time.
What you give
Or give out
Is the only thing
That really counts
Will you stay?
Here, stay around
And we'll both start
Working this out
But it's not just this
It's everything
You're so hard to reach
And impossible to really read
When your talking with
Two tongues in your mouth
And I wish you'd quit this muttering
Beneath your breath
It's killing me
You've not said nothing yet
Who's talking now?
Well I guess I'm starting to doubt
Are we lost here?
Are you keeping count?
Are you gonna just let me down?
Well your hearts not in it
It's everywhere
It's plain to see
You're still wondering
What's underneath
You're so curious
It's two strikes and you're out
And I'm tiring of this attitude
How you fall to pieces
Like you do
I can't believe you're still talking
With two tongues in your mouth
After all we've been around
Will you hear me out?
You're the only thing
That really counts
Or give out
Is the only thing
That really counts
Will you stay?
Here, stay around
And we'll both start
Working this out
But it's not just this
It's everything
You're so hard to reach
And impossible to really read
When your talking with
Two tongues in your mouth
And I wish you'd quit this muttering
Beneath your breath
It's killing me
You've not said nothing yet
Who's talking now?
Well I guess I'm starting to doubt
Are we lost here?
Are you keeping count?
Are you gonna just let me down?
Well your hearts not in it
It's everywhere
It's plain to see
You're still wondering
What's underneath
You're so curious
It's two strikes and you're out
And I'm tiring of this attitude
How you fall to pieces
Like you do
I can't believe you're still talking
With two tongues in your mouth
After all we've been around
Will you hear me out?
You're the only thing
That really counts
Lyrics submitted by areyouwatchingclosely
Two Tongues Lyrics as written by Glen James Hansard Glen Hansard
Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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Fast Car
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Cajun Girl
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Overall about difficult moments of disappointment and vulnerability. Having hope and longing, while remaining optimistic for the future. Encourages the belief that with each new morning there is a chance for things to improve.
The chorus offers a glimmer of optimism and a chance at a resolution and redemption in the future.
Captures the rollercoaster of emotions of feeling lost while loving someone who is not there for you, feeling let down and abandoned while waiting for a lover. Lost with no direction, "Now I'm up in the air with the rain in my hair, Nowhere to go, I can go anywhere"
The bridge shows signs of longing and a plea for companionship. The Lyrics express a desire for authentic connection and the importance of Loving someone just as they are. "Just in passing, I'm not asking. That you be anyone but you”
Punchline
Ed Sheeran
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Ed Sheeran sings about missing his former partner and learning important life lessons in the process on “Punchline.” This track tells a story of battling to get rid of emotions for a former lover, whom he now realized might not have loved him the same way. He’s now caught between accepting that fact and learning life lessons from it and going back to beg her for another chance.
Page
Ed Sheeran
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There aren’t many things that’ll hurt more than giving love a chance against your better judgement only to have your heart crushed yet again. Ed Sheeran tells such a story on “Page.” On this track, he is devastated to have lost his lover and even more saddened by the feeling that he may never move on from this.
This song has so much meaning behind it. The narrator (Glen) is begging for his lover to be upfront with their feelings (Marketa). To reconsider, in the end, their decision to leave. And all the doubt and frustration that comes with an inevitable breakup.
I've been in a relationship like this one. Being that the song is written by Glen, it's taken from his perspective. As far as the age difference, it can bring up a lot of problems within a relationship. Glen, being older, is ready to settle down and begin a life. Marketa, on the other hand, is still young. She has so much of the world to see and is unsure of what the right decisions are. She has doubts that she is even ready for a relationship as serious as this one, uncertain as to whether the love she feels is true love or a passing fancy. And Glen is just left feeling confused and rejected because of it.
I have much sympathy for both parties. It is so difficult to be rejected by the one you love. But it can be even harder to be the rejectee. Having to let someone you care about so deeply is a very difficult thing to do. From experience, I know that to be so.
I personally think that the overall theme of this song is miscommunication. Someone is being a bit two-faced, and says one thing one day but then the next says something and the other person has no idea what the relationship is about and so what they're saying is your actions are what is going to show me where your heart really is. And because of this lying or whatever it is, this double-conveyance, this person says they're "heart's not in it". This person is in love with the other but the other is not telling them properly, what their feelings are:
And impossible to really read When your talking with Two tongues in your mouth And I wish you'd quit this muttering Beneath your breath It's killing me You've not said nothing yet
Then the other starts to become involved in the relationship and wants to dig deeper but they're still sending mixed messages. Oh there's a lot to say but I think I've covered most.
This is my favourite song on the Swell Season record and I can't find a single instance of them performing it live, which makes me think it must be pretty personal, which would make sense from the lyric.